Bangkok: Thailand`s "Red Shirt" protesters have told followers to fight until victory but ditch their signature red shirts so they can go undercover in case of a possible crackdown as more bomb threats on Monday rattled the tense Thai capital.
There was no violence in the central Bangkok shopping area where protesters remained camped for a 24th day but an explosion occurred late Sunday near the home of a politician allied to the ruling coalition. The blast in a residential neighbourhood injured eight people, police said.
A bomb disposal team rushed early Monday to the city`s financial district amid reports of another explosive device outside a hospital at the edge of Silom Road, where five grenade blasts last week left one person dead and more than 80 wounded. It was not immediately clear if it was a false alarm.
Both sides in Thailand`s protracted political crisis dug in following a breakdown of negotiations and a televised appearance Sunday by the prime minister that offered no solution to the protracted crisis.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva spoke on Sunday in a nationally televised interview alongside the Army chief, in an apparent effort to dispel persistent rumours that there is a rift between him and the military.
The broadcast came a day after Abhisit rejected a compromise offer by the Red Shirts — who say the current government is illegitimate — dashing hopes for a peaceful end to the standoff.
Red Shirt leaders urged their supporters in provincial areas to confront the security forces being brought in to help crack down on the protests, after an earlier attempt to clear them failed, resulting in deadly clashes.
"We won`t go home until we win," a protest leader, Khwanchai Praipana, told supporters.
He said many police and soldiers in the provinces sided with the protesters, and had even asked them to prevent fresh security forces from reaching Bangkok.
Bureau Report
